Dallas City News

The 2024 offseason rolls on this week with the NFL scouting combine held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis from Feb 26th to Mar 4th with live coverage of the on-field drills beginning on Thursday, Feb 29th. As teams prepare for the draft at the end of April, the combine is a great chance for the draft prospects to showcase their athleticism, strength, and skills. It also provides draft hopefuls with the chance to interview with interested teams. Players have the opportunity to greatly improve their pre-draft ranking depending on how they perform at the event.

As this year’s draft prospects focus on trying to impress GM’s, scouts, and coaches, let’s take a look back at the top three draft picks in 2023 for the Dallas Cowboys and how they performed at the combine.

Mazi Smith (Pick 26)

Mazi Smith’s strength was a big takeaway from last year’s combine and likely influenced where he was picked in the 2023 draft. While he opted out of most of the drills in favor of showcasing more at Michigan’s pro day, he did participate in the bench press drill where each player bench presses 225 pounds for as many reps as they can. Smith’s 34 reps were the most of his position group with the next closest being 30 reps.

Luke Schoonmaker (Pick 58)

Luke Schoonmaker had a pretty solid showing in the 2023 combine earning him a ‘B’ grade according to nflcombineresults.com. He came in fifth out of all the participating TEs in the 40-yard dash, finishing at 4.63 seconds – faster than the standard 4.75 seconds for TEs. Schoonmaker marked the second longest broad jump at 127 inches, while staying around the middle of the pack in the shuttle drill. He also took the opportunity to interview with Dallas at the combine, one of only two TE’s to do so. The Cowboys were looking for a possible replacement for Dalton Schultz and at 6’5” and 251 pounds, Schoonmaker was pretty comparable.

Highlights of Schoonmaker’s combine can be found at DallasCowboys.com.

DeMarvion Overshown (Pick 90)

At the 2023 combine, DeMarvion Overshown was the only linebacker to interview with the Dallas Cowboys. Despite Overshown having an average showing compared to the other LBs with a 4.45 second 40 time, 124 inch broad jump, and 15 reps in the bench press drill, the Cowboys were excited about Overshown’s potential based on his athleticism and versatility he showed on the field for Texas. Overshown talked a bit about that in his interview with the media.

Watch Overshown’s 40-yard dash from the Combine at NFL.com.

The 2023 season didn’t pan out as well as each of these players had hoped. Smith had a few solid games in 2023 logging three of his eight total tackles against the Giants and recording his first NFL sack against the Bills, however his production didn’t have as much impact as what is expected of a first-round draft pick. Schoonmaker did a good job of showcasing his run-blocking ability during his rookie year, but still with lots of room for improvement in creating separation as a receiver and his pass-catching ability. As for Overshown, 2024 will be the first season that he will see the field as his torn ALC in training camp sidelined him for all of 2023. The jury is still out on whether these picks will be hits or misses. Because of the uncertainty, the Cowboys are likely going to be looking closely at the draft prospects for linebacker and defensive tackle at the combine this week. After a year of experience, whether that is playing in games or studying and watching film while rehabbing, hopefully these 2023 draft picks will prove to be hits.